My Girl is 5!

Yesterday was Taylor's 5th birthday. Despite the fact that she has been anticipating this birthday since last year, the following conversation took place when she woke up.
Me: Taylor, you are 5!!!! (said with much enthusiasm.)
Taylor: I'm still 4.
Me: What are you talking about? Today is your birthday. You are 5!
Taylor: But I'm not taller.
Hmmm. I think she was really thinking she would look and feel different when she woke up in the morning.
Me: You actually do look taller to me (said in all honesty as I watched her walk down the stairs holding Ashlyn's hand)

She is truly growing up so fast but life with Taylor continues to get more fun with each passing year.

We celebrated her special day at Disneyland (had to get that gift card). Some special friends and a set of grandparents joined us.

One unique thing about Taylor that has been apparent for a long time is that she LOVES her friends and LOVES playing with her friends ALL day EVERY day! She makes friends everywhere we go. At school she doesn't just spend time with 1 group or 1 person, she is a friend to all.

She is a GREAT big sister. Now that the twins are old enough to actually play with her, the 3 of them play so well together. They have amazing imaginations and are always fun to listen to. Ashlyn being the mom, Taylor the sister/honey, and Andy the puppy is one of my favorites. She likes to take care of them and be a 2nd mommy. There have been a few instances when a crying 2 year old has preferred the older sister for comfort rather than the real mommy.

This picture will soon be outdated as we add another little one to our family. I am so excited to share the experience of a new baby with Taylor. She is very excited for this addition and I know she will be a big helper.

Taylor is such a fun girl. From day 1, she has always enjoyed being outside, being busy, and on the go.

Taylor and I have always had a strong bond. I am so grateful for her in my life and the opportunity I have to be her mom. I LOVE her personality and the courage and confidence she possess. I hope she continues to be confident in who she is and be a friend to those around her.

Happy Birthday Taylor Marie! We love you!

More party pictures!

We took so many pictures last night, it was hard to pick and choose which ones to post.
So here is a post of just pictures =)

Maybe I should document....17 weeks pregnant here.

A Yee Haw Party!

Tomorrow is Taylor's 5th Birthday.

We celebrated last night with a Western Bash or a Yee Haw party as Taylor called it. Everyone was encouraged to dress for the West and come to Jorgenson Ranch.

Cute little Cowgirl.

We started the night by making paper bag vests.They rotated through 3 game stations:

Lasso a Filly,

Knock em Down.

And Gold Rush.

They received gold coins for all their gaming efforts and then came to the Trading Post to trade them for prizes.It became freakishly cold right as the party started so we moved the rest of the party inside. We had a BBQ and ate out of pie tins, had cake and ice cream,

and a little Line dancing.We even had a little cake stealer in our mist.

Before the last guests had even left, Taylor was already prepping her Easy Bake oven for some Baking.

After weeks of prepping and planning, I think it is safe to say that everyone had a good time (there were even some tears shed when it came time to leave) especially our Birthday Girl. Tyler has mentioned more than once since the party how blown away he is by how many friends Taylor has. It's true, the kid has tons of friends (more than we even invited or that were able to come) and she enjoys being with each and every one. We are grateful to all those who came and helped make our favorite big girl's day special.Me and my cowboy so totally worn out! But it was totally worth it!

Halloween!

We hosted our 2nd Annual Halloween Party this year.

Tons of people came and we had a great time!

There was lots of trampoline jumping.

Craft time.

Fun friends.

Or should I say LOTS of fun friends. A few were even missing from this picture.

Costume parade.

Trick or treating.
We did break off into smaller groups,
otherwise I think our neighbors would not have known what to do.

FYI: 3 functional trick or treaters results in TONS of candy.

Movie and popcorn in the backyard. This lasted longer than expected and some of us moms were actually able to chat without interruption. Great time was had by all!

Yee Haw!

We were a cowboy/cowgirl family this year!

We had a fantastic Halloween (except for the fact that I do not have a family picture, I SWEAR I was present and dressed up this year but there are no pictures to prove it).

We started the weekend with our Ward trunk or treat.

Mason and Ashlyn will start the therapy group Candy Addicts Anonymous!
They are crazy addicts!

My cute cowboys.

Do you think someone was a little happy about all the candy she was getting?????
The next 3 pictures will help you answer that question.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND.............

why THIS happens every. SINGLE. DAY!!!!!!!!
Andy has successfully destroyed another crib tent. I would love to buy another one but we are getting ready for the transition to a big boy bed. After all the kid is almost 3, its probably about time. Although I would really like to keep Andy and Ashlyn in a crib with the tent securely zippered until they are 10, but that may be grounds for CPS to make a visit to our home so....let the transition begin. Back to the mess.........for some reason, a reason that makes my head hurt to try and figure out, he climbs out of his bed in the morning and during nap time and takes every piece of clothing out of the drawers and laundry basket and throws them on the floor. Seriously???????? Why?????? Come get me! Go play in the playroom! Go downstairs! Why the clothes? Why EVERYday? Why after punishments have been handed out EACH time? WHY????
As if coming in a pair didn't add enough stress to my life, they enjoy doing things like this too!
If he didn't look so dang cute in this picture, this may have been a for sale ad.

Off to the Pumpkin Patch!

I LOVE going to the Pumpkin Patch. As the month of October rolls around, I get very excited to visit the place where all the pumpkins are. This year we had our very own pumpkin patch in our front yard thanks to not cleaning up last years pumpkin seeds as well as we should have. I did not however love having my own pumpkin patch as the crazy pumpkin vines took over our front porch on both sides. For those of you without a green thumb, pumpkins you can do! They take no care whatsoever and will literally attack your home. Said pumpkin patch is now gone and we have 4 remaining pumpkins from that but WE had to have just 1 more huge cool one. So off to Irvine Park we went.

The kids just HAD to stand in every single one of these things and have their pictures taken.

Sorry for the overkill of those but some of them are funny!

Can't get enough of this little man!!! He melts my heart everyday. On this day though, he successfully led me out of the hay maze. Good job Buddy!

The most boring and slow train ride EVER! I almost went crazy.

Perfect family picture except ................ANDY!!!!

Looking forward to a great Halloween and holiday season.